The final eight players have returned from their break, and they're unbagging as we speak.
A quick look at the chip counts sees that about 2/3rds of the total chips are held by the players in the top half of the bracket, meaning whoever escapes the bottom half will have a 2:1 chip disadvantage in the final.
Also of note is the fact that the clock has been rolled back to where it was when the first of the Round-of-16 matches ended. That was just 15 minutes into the day, so we'll play on beginning with another 45 minutes of Level 18. The stacks are relatively deep now no matter which half of the bracket you're on.
The first round of heads up matches have been completed and we are down to just eight players in this €10,400 No Limit Hold'em Split format event.
The first player to lose his stack was Kent Lundmark, who first doubled up Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi up when the latter held kings to the 2010 EPT Barcelona champion's tens and he never recovered. Next out of the door were Bryn Kenny, Joel Nordkvist and Alexander Roumeliotis.
Erik Seidel turned up fashionably but never got going in his match against Brian Hastings and he became our 12th place finisher. He was joined on the rail by the current WPT Grand Prix de Paris champion Matt Waxman, Russian Dmitry Motorov and Jason Mercier who was going great in his match with Shawn Buchanan until the latter flopped three straights in about 25 hands to send the number one ranked tournament player in the world for an early bath.
The next round of matches starts at 2000 CET sharp, join us then for all the action, as it happens, here in picturesque Cannes.
Jason Mercier has 50,000 when he shoved from the button with . Buchanan looked down at , and perhaps expecting to flop another straight with it, he made the call to put Mercier at risk.
Wouldn't you know it, the flop came ! #whenwillitend
The turn and river did nothing to help Mercier, and he could only shrug and congratulate Buchanan on victory. "Bucky" will take 460,000 chips with him into his match with Anatolii Ozhenilok.
We reported earlier how Shawn Buchanan had doubled up after flopping a straight and he has just flopped another one.
Jason Mercier bet 16,000 and Buchanan called. The flop was and Buchanan quickly checked followed by a Mercier check. The turn was the and again Buchanan quickly checked and Mercier bet 13,000. Action back to Buchanan and he clicked it back to 26,000. Mercier questionned the bet amount before making the call. The river was the and Buchanan bet 65,000 and Mercier folded.
Showdown
Shawn Buchanan has all of the momentum in is heads up encounter with Jason Mercier at the moment.
Mercier raised to 16,000 and Buchanan made the call. The flop was and Buchanan check-called a 13,000 Mercier bet. The turn was the and once again Buchanan check-called a Mercier bet; this time for 28,000. The river was the and Buchanan bet around 80,000 and Mercier folded.
Dmitry Motorov had found himself short stack and had been moving all in at every opportunity against Roger Hairabedian. Just a couple of hands ago they chopped a pot when Motorov moved in with and was up against , the board ran out and the pot was split.
Motorov chose a baby king to move all win with shortly afterwards, to be precise and Hairabedian had a very easy call with . There was little drama on the board and we are down to a single table here in the first round of heads up matches,
It appeared that Jason Mercier had his fellow countryman Shawn Buchanan backed into a corner but the latter has just doubled up by running like Mericer usually does.
Buchanan raised to 12,000, Mercier three-bet to 40,000 and then instantly called when Buchanan moved all in on him for a total of 180,000.
Mercier
Buchanan
The dealer put out the flop onto the table, gifting Buchanan a straight and when the landed on the turn Mercier held his cards over the muck. The meaningless was our river card and Buchanan doubled up and took a commanding lead in the match and Mercier threw his cards into the muck.
. Buchanan looked down at 
, and perhaps expecting to flop another straight with it, he made the call to put Mercier at risk.
! #whenwillitend
and river 
did nothing to help Mercier, and he could only shrug and congratulate Buchanan on victory. "Bucky" will take 460,000 chips with him into his match with Anatolii Ozhenilok.
and Buchanan quickly checked followed by a Mercier check. The turn was the 
and again Buchanan quickly checked and Mercier bet 13,000. Action back to Buchanan and he clicked it back to 26,000. Mercier questionned the bet amount before making the call. The river was the 
and Buchanan bet 65,000 and Mercier folded.
and Buchanan check-called a 13,000 Mercier bet. The turn was the 
and once again Buchanan check-called a Mercier bet; this time for 28,000. The river was the 
and was up against 
, the board ran out 
and the pot was split.
to be precise and Hairabedian had a very easy call with 
